Street-sweeper.



M. M.. NXN. STREET SWEEPER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7, 1914.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET l.

THE MORRIS PETERS ca. PHOTC-LJTHO.. WASHING rON. D C.

M. M. NIXON.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. '1, 1914.

1,1 30,758. Patented Mar; 9,1915.

B SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N am 2 Syvum/to@ @N WM '7" NORRIS PETERS Co., PHOTOALITHO.. WASHING mN,D. c.

M. M. NIXON.

STREET SWBEPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7, 1914.

Patented Mar. 9, 1,915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

amm

HE NORRIS PETERS Ca., PHnTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C.

M. M. NIXON.

STREET SWEEPEP..

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.- 7, 1914. V

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

1,130,758' I. e sHBBTs-snzn1'4 THE NORRIS PETERS C0.. PHOTGLITH'O.,WSHINGNN. D. C.

M. M. NIKON.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. '1, 1914.

1,1 30,758. Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET t34 THE NURRIS PETERS C0.. PHOTKPLITHO.. WASHINGTON. D.C.

M. M. NIXON.

STREET SWBEPEB. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. 1914.'

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@Jvihwoow /mfn 'HE NGRRIS PETERS CO.. PHONLITHO.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

FFTCE.

MORDECA IVI. YNIXON, 0F EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

STREET-SWEEPER.

Application filed January 7, 1914.

T0 (MZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, MoRDnoAI M. NrxoN, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Edenton, in the County ofChowan and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new andkuseful Improvements in Street Sweepers, of which the following is aspecification.

Y This invention relates to an improved street sweeper, and theprincipal object of the invention isto provide a sweeper having itsbrush-carrying trough adjustably mounted so that it may be raised out ofengagement with the pavement, and provided with an adjustable flooringwhich may be moved closer to the brush bristles when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved operatingmeans for the sweeping element which is automatically thrown into andout of an operative position when the trough is raised and lowered.

Another object of the inventionis to provide an improved type ofauxiliary brush which may be manually moved from an inoperative to anoperative position.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means forrotating the auxiliary brush, the rotating means for the brush beingautomatically moved into and out of an operative position when the brushis raised and lowered.

Another object of the invention is to provide the lio'oring board of thetrough with improved fingers at its lower end which follow theunevenness of the pavement and are yieldably held in a normal position.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved platformconnecting the upper end ofthe flooring with the interior of adirt-receiving chamber so that the looring may be adjusted without spacebeing left between the upper end of the -flooring and the chamber.

Another object of the invention is to provide the chamber with animproved means for removing the dirt' from the interior of the chamber.

This invention is illustrated' in the accom-V panying drawings wherein-Figure 1 is a side elevation kof the improved street sweeper; Fig. 2 isa view similar to Fig. 1 looking from the opposite' side of the streetsweeper; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the brush-carryingtrough moved to a lowered position; Fig. t is a vertical sectional viewthrough the rear p0r- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

sei-iai No. 810,824.

tion of the street sweeper; Fig. is a vertical vsectional View throughthe brush carry* ingftrough looking in the opposite direction from theview shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the brush carryingtrough; Fig. 7 isa sectional view through the side wall of thebrush-carrying trough taken Y along the line 7 7 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is afragmentary sectional view of the longitudi nally-extending shaft shownupon the brushcarryingy trough in Fig. 1 and illustrating the means forpermitting sliding movement of the shaft through the gears mounted onshaft; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along theline 9-9 of Fig. 2 withthe auxiliaryL drivers cab 17 and engine hood 18. The

dirt receptacle, or chamber, 19 is carried by the truck behind thedrivers cab'and is provided with a drop door 20. This drop door ishinged at one end, as shown at 21, and is provided with suspendingchains 22`which are wound upon a shaft 23 extending through thereceptacle. A ratchet wheel 24 and removable handle 25 are mounted uponthe outer end of the shaft 23 at one side of the receptacle and the pawl26 is pivotally secured to the side wall of the receptacle and engagesthe ratchet wheel so that the drop door may be held in a raisedposition. It will thus be seen that by releasing the pawl with the lever26', the drop door may be permitted to drop to the dotted-line positionshown in Fig. 3 and the machine then backed toy cause the dirt in thereceptacle to be deposited upon the ground. The handle can then beattached and turned to raise the door and the pawl will then prevent theshaft from rotating to permit the door to drop. A door 19 is providedfor ascertain-v ing Vwhether the receptacle is full.

The rear portion of the truck is supported by thekwheels 27 and 28 whichare rotatably mounted by the axle 29 supported in the journals 80. Thewheel 27 is provided with external gear teeth 81, and the wheel 28 isprovided with internal ear teeth 32,y the gearlt'eeth of the wheels 2%and 28 providing meansV for transmitting motion to themvarif ous shafts`which are to be hereinafter described. The side walls 33 and 34 of the37 positioned to communicate with the gear` teeth 31 of the supportingwheel 27.

The auxiliary brush, together with Yits operating mechanism, ismountedbetween the side walls 33and 34 to the rear of the supportingwheels 27 and 28, and iscaused Y to rotate by having its operatingVmeans brought into engagement with the teeth 32. This auxiliary brush38 is mounted upon a shaft 39 which is rotatably supported by the arm40leading fromthe sleeve 41 slidably mounted upon the supporting shaft42.A The shaft .42 is carried by the side bars 43 of the v ktruck and isprovided with a groove 44 in which a key 45 extends to prevent thesleeve from rotating upon the shaft 42. This shaft 42 is rotatablymounted, and it will thus be seen that when desired, the sleeve may berotated by turning the shaft `42. A short shaft 46 is rotatablysupported by the bracket arms 47 which are carried by the guiding arm54and is provided with bevel gears 48 andv 49. The gear 49 meshes withthe bevel teeth 50 of the Acrown gear 51, which crown gear is rotatablyVmounted upon the outerend portionof the sleeve 41. A rod 52 is carried.by the side walls and is bent inter.-

mediate its length to form the downwardlyextending curved guide-way 53which Lextends behind the shaft 42, as shown in Fig. 4. An arm 54 iscarried by the brush shaft 39 and extends into the guide-way 53 so thatwhenthe shaft 42 is rotated, the guiding armV 54 will cause the sleeveto move longitudinally upon the shaft to the dotted-line position, asshown in Fig. 9. The spring 55 yieldably holds the brush 38 pressedagainst the side of the curb so that it will get all the dirt, therollers 38 preventing the brush from catching vin cracks or unevenplaces.

A lever 57 is connected with one end of lever 58 is mounted upon theside of the drivers cab so that the driver can operate the latch leverto swing the auxiliary brush from an inoperative position to anoperative position, and then return the' brush to the vinoperativeposition when desired with-.l out leavinggthe cab.y This auxiliary brushwould be-used for sweeping in gutters where the main brush does nottravel, and would also be used for collecting dirt which the driver doesnot think willbe taken up by the main brush.

-The brush-carrying trough which isrslid- 'ably connectedwith the sidewalls 33 and 34 is provided'with the side walls 60 and the slidingmovement of the trough. ATheraek bars 64 which are carried by the sidewalls 60 of the trough are engaged by the gears 65 mounted upon theshaft 66, and it will thus be seen that when the shaft 66 is ro-u tated,the trough will be longitudinally vadjusted. A gearV 67 mounted upon theouter end of the shaft 66 meshes with a worm gear 68 carried by theshaft 69, Lwhich shaft 69 is provided at its forward end with a bevelgear 70y meshing .with the bevel gear 71 of a ratchet wheel 72. Thisratchet wheel 72 is engaged by the pawl 73 and is provided Y with rahandle 74 so vthat the driver can rotate the shaft 69 to adjust theposition of.

the trough.

. The trough bottom 61 is slidably mounted upon crank shafts 75 byvmeans of the elongated eyes 76, and is connected with the upper-endportion of the rear wall of the receptacle 19 by means of the plates 77which are pivotally connected together, as shown in Fig. 4 so thatthe'plates 77 may movewhen the trough is longitudinally ad- .Y

justed and not interfere with the bottom 61. It will also be seen thatthis permits the bottom to be adjusted longitudinally independent of thetrough. The crank vshafts extendv through the side wall at one side ofthe trough and vare bent to Vform ingers 78 which engage'the latches 79so that the crank shafts may be held in an Vadjusted position, and thebottom. 61' adjusted with respect to lthe apron 807 which carries thebrushes 81. It will thus be seen that as thebristles of the brush wearo, the bottom ofthe trough may be brought nearer to the apron tocompensate for this wear. v f

A threaded stem 82 has its upper end ex# tendingy into aninternally-threaded sleeve 83 carried by the bottom 61and has its lowerend provided with afbevel gear 84y which meshes with a bevel gear 85mounted upon a transversely-extending shaft 86. This shaft 86 isrotatably mounted in the side walls 60 of the trough and is provided atone` end with a removable handle 87, by means of which the shaft 86 maybe rotated. By 4rotating this shaft 86, the stem 82 may be rotated tomove the bottom 61 longitudinally betweenlthe side walls 60.

Fingers 88 are connected with the lower Vend'of the trough b'OtOHl ,'61by means of 71,25

hinges 89 and are connected with the yoke 90 by nieans of the links 91by having. their innerl ends `formed, intof eyes 9 2 through whichthejyoke 90 passes.: Springs 93 are carried by the links and yieldablyhold the fingers 88-in engagement with the pavement and tend to causethe lingers to conform to the surface of the pavement over which theytravel and thus prevent dirt from being left in the uneven places in thepavement. These fingers 88 extend beneath the lower lflight of thebrush-carrying apron, as shown in Fig. 5, and have their lower edgestapered as shown so that the brushes will easily sweep the dirt onto thefingers and then convey the dirt up the` trough bottom 61.

When the brushes reach the top of the' mounted so that it will notinterfere withY the longitudinal movement of the trough.

The apron passes around rollers 95 and 96 which are mounted upon shafts97 and 98. The rollers 96 are idler rollers and the roller which isrigidly mounted upon shaft 97 is the drive roller which gives movementto the apron. This drive shaft is provided with suitable tighteners 99of the ordinary type used for tightening a belt. Alongitudinally-extending shaft 100 is rotatably mounted by the bearings101 and carries a bevel gear 102 which meshes with a bevel gear 103mounted upon the roller-A supporting shaft 97. provided with alongitudinally extending groove 104 to receive the key 105 of the bevelgear 106. The'bevel gear 106 rotates with the shaft 100 but permits theshaft to move longitudinally through the bevel gear when the trough islongitudinally adjusted. A journal bracket 107 is carried by the sidewall 33 of the receptacle 19 and is provided at its outer end with abearing 108 through which the shaft 100 passes. An abutment 109 iscarried by the journal bracket and engages thelower end of the bevelgear 106 to prevent the bevel gear from moving out of the desiredposition. A transmission shaft 110 is carried by the journal bracket andis provided at its upper end with a bevel gear 111 which meshes with thebevel gear 106 and causes the shaft 100 to rotate when its clutch'112 isin engagement withy the clutch 113 of thel gear wheel 114. This gearwheel 114 is rotatably mounted by means of the journal 115 and extendsthrough the slot 37 and engages the gear teeth 31 of the wheel 27 sothat the gear wheel 114 will rotate continually when the machine is inmotion. The clutch 112 is carried by a pivotally mounted bell-cranklever 116 which is yieldably held in a nor mal position by the spring118 and yieldably connected with the rocker arm v119 by means of thespring 120. The springs 118 and 120 normally hold the bell-crank leverin the position shown yin Fig. lso ythat This shaft 100 isA when thebrush trough is in the raised position, the clutch 112 will be held outof engagement with the clutch 113, and the transmission shaft 110 thusprevented from r0- tating. The lower end of the shaft 110 is rotatablysupported by the clutch 112, but

is not rigidly connected with the clutch, and

therefore the shaft will not rotate unless the clutch 112 is inengagement withr the clutch 113. A rib 121 is carried kbythe trough andis positioned to engage the rocker arm 119 and to bring the clutch 112into engagement with the clutch 113 when the trough is moved to thelowered position shown in Fig. 3. Pins 122 are carriedby the side wallsof the trough and are engaged by catches 123 carried by the side wallsof the receptacle 19 to limit the downward movement of the trough.

The operation of this machine is as follows: When the machine is beingmoved from one place to another and it is'not desired to have the brushoperate, the trough is raised to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 byrotating the shaft 69 as already described, and the clutch 112 will thenbe out of engagement with the clutch 113 so that the brush-operatingmechanism will not operate. When it is desired to use the machine, thetrough is lowered and this will bring the clutches into engagement andcause the apron to travel through the trough to sweep the dirt upon thepavement up the trough and deposit the same in the receptacle. If it isdesired to remove the dirt from a gutter, the latch lever 58 is moved bythe driver to lower the auxiliary brush and this brush will then bemoved to thedotted-line position shown in Fig. 9 so that the dirt in thegutter will be swept out of the gutter and guided beneath the machinebeneath the receptacle so that it will be taken up by the main brush.

As soon as the receptacle is filled, the drop door 20 may be lowered andthe machine y110 then moved rearwardly a short distance kto cause thedirt to ypass out through the bottom of the receptacle and be depositedin a pile beneath the trough truck. The drop door can then be raised andheld in the closed position, and the machine is then again ready foruse. When the brush has become worn a sufiicient amount so that it doesnot closely engage the trough, the crank shaft 75 can be adjusted tomove the trough bottom closer to the brush apron, and this willaccommodate forV the wear upon the brushes. The trough bottom can alsobe adjusted longi-y tudinally of the mechanism describedto compensatefor the wear upon the fingers 88. A street sweeper has thus beenprovided which is very efficient in operation and which is soconstructed that the operating`v means for the brush will be normallyheld.

in` an inoperative position when the trough is raised and which will beautomatically thrown into operation when the trough is lowered for use.A' machine'has also been provided .in which there is providedv an auX-iliary brush for removing dirt from a gutter and guiding the dirt to aposition where itV can be taken up by the main brush. The

operating means for this auxiliary brush is so constructed that itwillnot operate when the brush is in a raised position, but will beautomatically moved into an operative position when the auxiliary brushis lowered. This machine will therefore thoroughly clean all parts of astreet and make it unnecessary to have sweepers follow the inachine toremove the dirt from'the gutter or to take up dirt which hasv been sweptinto the gutter by the sweeping machine.

What is claimed is:

1. Ajstreet sweeper comprising a receptacle, a trough connected withsaid receptacle for vertical adjustment, an endless cleaner passingthrough said trough, a driving shaft carried by said trough for rotatingsaid endless cleaner, a gear slidably mounted upon said shaft, a bracketcarried 'by .said receptacle and engaging said gear, a driven shaftcarried by said bracket and provided with a` gear meshing with saidfirst-mentioned gear, a'rotary clutch,a clutch collar carried by saidVdriven shaft, pivotally/ mounted operating means'for said clutch collarcarried by said receptacle, resilient means yieldably holding saidpivotally mounted means in its normal position to normally hold saidclutch collar and rotary clutch out of engagement, actuating means for4said operating means, resilient means -connecting said actuating meansand operating means, and means carried by said trough for engaging saidactuating means when said trough is moved to a lowered-position to bringsaid clutch collar and rotary clutch I into engagement.

2. A street sweeper comprising a receptacle, a trough connected withsaid receptacle for vertical adjustment, an endless cleaner passingthrough said trough, a driving shaft carried by said trough for rotat-ring said endless cleaner, a gear slidably mounted upon said shaft, abracket carried by said receptacle and engaging said gear, a drivenshaft carried by said bracket and provided with a'gear meshing with saidfirst-mentioned gear, a rotary clutch, Va clutch collar carried by saiddriven shaft, a bell-crank lever having one end engaging said clutchcollar, resilient means yieldably holding said bell-crank lever in anormal position, a. rocker shaft having an arm, resilient meansconnecting said rocker shaft arm with said bell-crank lever, and meanscarried by said trough for engaging saidrocker -shaft arm and? movingsaid clutch collar into engagement with ysaid rotary clutch when saidtrough is moved to a lowered position.

3. A street sweeper comprisinga receptacle, a trough carried by saidreceptacle, said trough comprising side walls, a flooring, means forlongitudinally adjusting said Hooring, a guide-way connecting the upperportion of said flooringrwith the interior of said receptacle, sweepingmeans traveling through said trough and engaging said flooring, andoperating means for said sweeping means. Y

4L'. A street sweeper comprising a receptacle, a trough carried .by saidreceptacle, means for vertically adjusting the position ofsaid trough, aflooring for said trough, means for longitudinally Vadjusting saidflooring, cleaning means in said trough, and operating means for saidcleaning means.

5. A street sweeper comprising a receptacle, a trough carried by saidreceptacle, a iiooring for said trough, eyes carried by said flooring,crank shafts carried by the side walls of said trough and passingthrough said eyes, a cleaner positioned inV said trough, movement ofsaid crank shafts adjusting said flooring with respect to said cleaner,guiding lingers carried by said flooring means for longitudinallyadjustingr the position of said flooring in said trough, and means foroperating said cleaner.

6. A street sweeper vcomprising a receptacle, a trough slidablyconnected with said'y receptacle, rack bars carried bythe side walls ofsaid trough, means engaging said rack bars for vertically adjusting saidtrough, a flooring slidably mounted between the side walls of saidtrough, an internally threaded sleeve carried by said iooring, a

stem having one end threaded and eXtending into said sleeve, meanscarried by .the

side walls of said trough for rotating said stem, a guide way connectingthe'upper-end portion of said flooring4 with the Ainterior of saidreceptacle, sweeping means in said trough, and means for operatingsaidsweeping means.

7 Ina street sweeper a receptacle, rotai tably-mounted supporting wheelsfor said receptacle, annular rack teeth carried by one of said wheels, asupporting shaft carried by said receptacle, a sleeve slidably mount-ved upon said shaft, a crownV gear providedl with a shoulder constitutinga bevel'gear rotatably carried by vsaid sleeve, an arm eX- tending fromsaid sleeve, a journal bracket extending from said sleeve, a guide-wayeX- tending between said arm and bracket-and extending from a pointabove said shaft and curved downwardly toward one side of saidreceptacle, a brush-carrying shaft yeX- tending from said arm, a bevelgear 'carried by said brush shaft, a guiding finger eX-rj tending fronrsaid brush shaft into said guideway, a spring placed upon said brushshaft between said arm and linger, a transmission shaft rotatablycarried by said bracketancl provided with a bevel gear engaging thebevel gear of said crown gear and provided at its opposite end Withabevel gear for engaging the bevel gear of said brush shaft, and meansfor rotating said first-mentioned shaft for bringing said crown gearinto engagement with the gears of said supporting Wheel and the bevelgear of said brush shaft into engagement With the adjacent bevel gear ofsaid transmission shaft.

8. A street sweeper comprising a receptacle, a main brush for saidreceptacle,

means for operating said main brush, supporting Wheels for saidreceptacle, an annular gear carried by one of said Wheels; arotatably-mounted auxiliary-brush operating means carried by saidreceptacle adjacent said last mentioned Wheel, and meansy ment WithsaidV gear when said auxiliary brush-operating means is raised.

In testimony whereof aHX my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

MORDECAI M. NIKON.

Witnesses:

J. R. PARKER, H. C. NIXON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

